CIFOR-ICRAF Hosts Global Conference on Biodiversity, Climate Crises
By Joyce Ojanji
The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) is staging a two-day hybrid conference on local solutions to the global climate and biodiversity crises, at its campus in Nairobi, Kenya.
The conference organized by the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) under the theme, A New Vision for Earth, is scheduled to take place on 11-12th October.
The first day of the GLF Nairobi 2023 Hybrid Conference will focus on sovereign solutions and how the African continent can create a prosperous and sustainable future. The second day will be about climate, highlighting ways to craft a “Survival Guide for a Planet in Crisis.”
The conference will cover thematic areas such as rural development and green jobs; women in landscapes; youth; environmental justice and rights; sustainable finance; and locally led landscape solutions.
CIFOR-ICRAF is hosting several sessions within the conference, covering topics including regional observatories for sustainable African ecosystems (11 October); shaping Africa’s future through locally-led landscape restoration (11 October); and scaling jurisdictional approaches for sustainable palm oil and agriculture (12 October).
Experts attending include Éliane Ubalijoro, chief executive officer of CIFOR-ICRAF; Marina Silva, Brazil’s minister of environment and climate change; Peter Minang, CIFOR-ICRAF director for Africa; Vivienne Yeda, director general of the East African Development Bank; Jochen Flasbarth, state secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); as well as Lyla June Johnston, an Indigenous musician, author and community organizer.
“The climate and biodiversity crises are directly affecting communities in Africa and other regions of the Global South whose livelihoods are closely connected to natural resources,” CEO Ubalijoro says. “This hybrid event is the ideal forum to discuss local solutions ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) later this year.”